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The Raptor is a catch-all name for playable sentient birds. Attempts to incorporate this into the game in the past have mostly been failures that ended up making the birds too humanoid (Raptorians and Kenku). These aren't humanoids that happen to have wings or chicken features, these are actual birds that have human-level sentience.

As part of having human-level sentience, it is highly recommended that the birds belong to the class of top predators. Eagles, falcons, hawks, owls, and ospreys come to mind. As Dungeons and Dragons does not attempt to model fine-grained details of biology, the races are given somewhat abstracted statistics for the class of top predators.

Different birds communicate in different fashions, but usually with squawks and other such noises that is usually difficult for humanoid races to replicate. Nonetheless it is a complete language, known as "Raptor".

Size::Small: While pushing it, Raptors are essentially considered small: they are to halflings as dwarves are to humans. As small creatures, Raptors have a +1 bonus to Armor Class, +1 bonus on attack rolls, +4 bonus on Hide checks, –4 penalty on grapple checks, lifting and carrying limits 3/4 those of Medium characters.

Raptor base land speed is 10 feet. They also have a fly speed equal to 30 feet, plus 5 feet per level, with good maneuverability.

Natural weapons: Raptors have a bite and talons. Both have a base damage of 1d4, and the talons are considered the primary natural weapon.

Hunting Dive (Ex): Raptors can make a talon attack at the end of a run. This is similar to making an attack at the end of a charge, but only a talon attack can be made.

Unusual Morphology: In the human-centric lands that most of Dungeons & Dragons takes place in, Raptors are distinctly out-of-place. They can only use weapons and armor created especially for them (increase base cost by ×1.5).

Raptors have a +8 racial bonus to either Spot or Listen checks, and a +4 racial bonus to the other (choose one at character creation).

The ages are unified in the table below for better playability. As for the sizes and weights, a basic table has been made for those who don't want to go too in-depth about their type of bird; for those that do, it is encouraged that you look at the appropriate page on Wikipedia and decide on an appropriate height and weight in that fashion. No matter what height and weight you choose, you are still considered Small.

Table: Raptor Random Starting Ages

Adulthood

Simple

Moderate

Complex

3 years

+1d3-1

+1d4

+1d6

Table: Raptor Aging Effects1

Middle Age2

Old3

Venerable4

Maximum Age

25 years

35 years

45 years

+2d10 years

Age has been increased from what is expected in real life, for better playability.

At middle age, −1 to Str, Dex, and Con; +1 to Int, Wis, and Cha.

At old age, −2 to Str, Dex, and Con; +1 to Int, Wis, and Cha.

At venerable age, −3 to Str, Dex, and Con; +1 to Int, Wis, and Cha.

Table: Raptor Random Height1 and Weight

Gender

Base Height

Height Modifier

Base Weight

Weight Modifier

Male

4' 4"

+2d10 or -1d4

5 lb.

× (1d4) lb.

Female

5'

+2d12 or -1d4

6 lb.

× (1d4) lb.

Height refers to their longest dimension (wingspan), not talon-to-head height.